Participants in this year’s Converter Meeting (March 3-6, Four Seasons, Palm Beach, FL) will benefit from the insights of an outstanding line-up of expert speakers brought together for the event by meeting chair, Matt Williamson (Brady Corp.). Each of the Converter Meeting speakers will offer their own perspective on the meeting’s theme, Successfully Leading and Motivating Our People.

The speakers have shared the three key takeaways from their scheduled presentations:

Alan Beaulieu

“There is a recession coming – but we can prosper through it.

The future of interest rates and inflation.

Planning now for the prosperity to come after the mild downturn.”

Captain Michael Abrashoff

It’s Your Ship: Leadership, Accountability and Choosing the Right People

“Learn how to create a culture of accountability using the ‘It’s Your Ship’ approach to leadership.

Understand why a culture that makes people feel safe will bring out the best in each individual.

Learn to lead differently by looking at your organization through the eyes of your ‘crew’.”

The Generations People

“Understand who the generations are and how they differ.

Identify ClashPoints™ in your workplace.

Manage more effectively by learning how to connect with each generation.”

TLMI converter members may register for the meeting by responding to the email invitation they received or by going to the registration website. The site includes a full agenda and a constantly updated list of attendees.

Dear TLMI Member Converters:

Lee Iacocca once said, “Management is nothing more than motivating other people.” As business owners, managers and industry leaders, we all know that the success of our companies will last only as long as the people who work for us are motivated and effective at what they do. The theme of next year’s TLMI Converter Meeting March 3-6 at the Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach, Florida is Successfully Leading and Motivating our People. During our time together, meeting speakers will offer us an actionable roadmap that will help us motivate our employees to meet the challenges and opportunities we face in today’s marketplace; and to ensure our company’s success in the long term.

Monday morning’s session features Mike Abrashoff, founder of GLS Worldwide. GLS is a consulting firm that works with and supports corporate leaders as they address leadership, talent and business challenges within their organization.  The title of Mike’s presentation is, “It’s Your Ship: Leadership, Accountability and Choosing the Right People.” At the age of 36 Mike was the youngest commanding officer in the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy. Over the course of his presentation, meeting attendees will learn how to create a culture of accountability using the “It’s Your Ship” approach to leadership. Mike will take the audience through a discussion that focuses on why creating a culture that makes people feel safe will bring out the best in each individual, and he will show us how to lead our companies differently by looking at things through the eyes of our “crews.”

Also presenting at the morning session on Monday and back by popular demand will be Alan Beaulieu, a Senior Analyst, Economist and Principal with the Institute for Trend Research. Alan has spoken at the 2011 and 2012 Converter Meetings and incorporates wit and humor into his presentations while providing us with a preview of what the economic landscape will look like in the coming year.

Opening the morning session on Tuesday will be The Generations People, a unique trio of speakers and experts who advise companies on how to conduct business more successfully by bridging generation gaps at work and in the marketplace. The Baby Boomer of the group is Lynne Lancaster, co-founder of BridgeWorks, a generational diversity consulting and training company with high profile clients nationwide. The Generation-Xer of the trio is David Stillman, co-founder of Bridgeworks with Lynne and one of the business industry’s foremost cultural translators. The third member of the group and representing the Millennial generation is Seth Mattison, an expert in workforce trends amongst his own generation. Seth will focus on the generational divide between younger and older generations and how bridging the gaps can infuse new ideas and energy into our organizations.

The morning’s second session will feature Darrell Hughes, Vice President and General Manager of Avery Dennison. He will be leading a panel of industry experts in a discussion titled, “Sustainable Materials Management: The Economics, Opportunities, and Challenges of Sustainable Labeling.” When it comes to sustainability, the narrow web industry has traditionally focused on lean manufacturing and landfill-free initiatives. For many of us these initiatives have not been significant or economically meaningful and companies are realizing that this framework needs to be updated with a more holistic vision. Label industry leaders are starting to focus on Sustainable Materials Management: the life cycle of materials as they trace their course through the supply chain from raw material extraction to product manufacturing, transport, use, source reduction, reuse, recycling and disposal. Learn how to start looking at label products as part of a larger system and design them to provide real economic and environmental value to brands, retailers and the recycling industry. Directly following the panel discussion, Shawn Six from Industry Insights will provide an update on the TLMI Ratio Study.

If we agree with Lee Iacocca that management is nothing more than motivating other people, then surely one of the fundamentals of leadership is to be successful at motivating our people long term. Join us at the 2013 TLMI Converter Meeting to learn how, and to ensure our employees are helping us to create a successful future.

Sincerely,

Matt Williamson
President, Brady – Americas
2013 Converter Meeting Chair